Jets sought to improve speed and athleticism this offseason

Steve Mitchell/US PresswireLinebacker DeMario Davis, here attempting to make a tackle while at Arkansas State, has 4.5 speed and will help cover the Patriots' tight ends.

The Jets defense has coined a motto this spring: “One step faster.”

Coming off the disappointing 2011 season, in which the Jets finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs, improving team speed was identified as a priority. And that has been a driving force for the Jets as they get to work in their offseason program.

“That was our goal: we need to get fast and athletic,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said tonight at the “Match for Michael” charity event in Eatontown. “The league is evolving that way to be a pass-first league, and we felt we were getting — for lack of a better phrase — a little dinosaur-ish inside.”

Pettine, who co-hosted the event to try to find a bone-marrow donor for Wayside Jets fan Michael Manganiello, had his first on-field look at the defense this week as coaches were permitted to do football work for the first time this offseason. He said the players look lean and quick, and they’re “optimistic” heading into organized team activities.

The Jets also looked for speed in the draft, selecting four defensive players — defensive end Quinton Coples, linebacker Demario Davis and safeties Josh Bush and Antonio Allen — who improve team speed. And, they signed veteran safety LaRon Landry in free agency.

Coach Rex Ryan said the defense’s motto this year is similar to one he used when he coached the Ravens defensive line in 2000: One extra step. That was the year Baltimore won the Super Bowl.

“We’ve been a really good defense here for three years, but we want to be a great defense,” Ryan said tonight. “So we’re going to push each other that way.”

Ryan noted that linebackers Bart Scott and David Harris look quicker, and on offense, quarterback Mark Sanchez (up to 230 pounds) and receiver Santonio Holmes have both added muscle.

Pettine called Coples, the Jets’ first-round pick, an explosive athlete and said he did a “mental backflip” when he was available at pick No. 16 in the first round.

While he’s raw, Pettine said, he’ll come in and compete in the team’s defensive line rotation. They look to use him at left end, but he can slide to several positions across the line, from over the shoulder of the offensive tackle to over the center in some passing situations.

“We were very fired up as a defensive staff that we were able to add that type of ability to our room,” Pettine said. “In today’s NFL, you almost have to work backwards when you build your defensive roster. You have to think about third down, spread offense first.”

Davis, who has 4.5 speed, could be an option to cover the league’s fast and athletic tight ends, starting with New England’s Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, who have given the Jets headaches in the past.

“We feel the division runs through Foxborough. We have to defend them,” Pettine said. “You saw the tight ends drafted. New England, I think, has set the trend for it, and we have to respond to it. So that’s why we kind of have to find those guys who maybe 10 years ago weren’t your natural inside ‘backers because of their size. These guys are glorified strong safeties.”

More than 400 people turned out for tonight’s event, which was also supported by Jets players Mark Sanchez, Sione Pouha and Aaron Maybin, who posed for photos and signed autographs along with Pettine and Ryan. The objective was to raise money and register as many people as possible for the National Marrow Donor Program, in hopes of finding a match for Manganiello, who was diagnosed with acute myelofibrosis around Easter.

Pettine shares a mutual friend with the family and, after hearing Manganiello’s story and the urgency of his rare medical condition, said it was a “no-brainer” to help.

“We don’t get a lot of opportunities to do something like this, when you have a chance to have such a great impact on a life,” Pettine said.

Notes: Contrary to a report, Ryan said the Jets were not looking to draft West Virginia’s Bruce Irvin with their 16th pick. ... Pettine, who was the primary play-caller last year, said he and Ryan will “collaborate” on play calls this year. Ryan has said he’ll be more hands-on with the defense this year.